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10 Methods to Improve Self-Discipline

Turn motivation into a habit. These are the top methods to improve self-discipline.

By Kelsey LangePublished 6 years ago 5 min read
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Self-disciple is something that everyone has struggled with. Whether this is in the form of struggling to lose weight, studying for a test, or just getting out of the house, we have all been there. However, failure is all part of the process, and finding the best ways to discipline yourself is a journey in itself.

These are the top ten methods to improve self-discipline that will entirely transform your process of turning motivation into habits. From setting small goals to replacing bad habits with good ones, you will be able to better your lifestyle in just ten steps.

Set a small goal.

To begin our list of the best methods to improve self-discipline, you have to start small in order to achieve big goals. So to start your process, think up a small goal, and begin working toward it. With losing weight in mind, you may want to start with losing five pounds.

Something much less intimidating to achieve than maybe a desired 50, it's important to achieve each victory along the way. Breaking your goals into more bearable and reasonable goals allows you to breeze through each of your goals, while still moving forward toward your ultimate one.

Remove your temptations.

Going along with the same theme of losing weight, if you remove the junk food from your home, you won't eat junk food. Though this might seem like too easy of a fix, it's a start. And if you have temptations constantly surrounding you, you are much more likely to crave them. Putting yourself in a situation in which you believe that you will cheat on your goals is never a smart idea.

But sometimes, you can't help it. As one of the best methods to improve self-discipline, removing temptation from your home and daily environments, such as buying groceries of food that you would be satisfied with eating is a great way to start. And if you find yourself at a party filled with pizza and chips, have a backup plan. Tell yourself you will sip on drinks all night, and eat before you go, so you're not craving it as much.

Create a plan.

If you don't have a distinct plan of action to reach your goals, you will always go off course. In order to achieve your goals, such as a goal weight, you need to come up with specific plans to follow, so that you can both achieve your goal with ease, and motivate yourself each day.

If you want to eat healthier, or even count calories, doing so will give you a sense of accomplishment each day. This also goes for going to the gym or making it a day with a cigarette. If you are able to follow a plan, you'll be much more likely to succeed.

Acknowledge your weaknesses.

Being able to acknowledge your weaknesses will allow you to better complete your plans. This is because you will be able to come up with a plan of action that is accomplishable.

Setting a goal that is not practical will never be beneficial. It will only frustrate and discourage you, and ultimately stop your process from succeeding altogether.

So as one of the best methods to improve self-discipline, acknowledging your weaknesses, and in return, what you would be not able to achieve, will better allow you to plan toward your goals, and minimize frustration, and failure.

Replace bad habits with good habits.

Instead of thinking of putting an end to bad habits as a complete action, you should replace the habit with a good one. This way, your life does not feel as if it has a hole, and you will not notice cravings as much.

For example, instead of always having ice cream after dinner, choose a yogurt. This way, you can fill your life with better habits, without overwhelming yourself, and fill in the holes that would be left if you cut out desert altogether.

Reward yourself.

Just as we touch on earlier, being able to celebrate your little victories is incredibly beneficial. And with this in mind, being able to reward yourself for hard work is important as well. As one of the best methods to improve self-discipline, rewarding yourself is all part of the process.

It can't be all work with no play, and this goes for any goal you are attempting to achieve. Being able to stop and have a cheat meal will allow you to indulge without feeling guilty, and without leading yourself to binge.

Accept that failure is part of the process.

Much like anything in life, self-disciplining yourself requires being able to let go a little. Recognizing that you will fail along the way is all part of the process. And with this, you should not become discouraged.

If you are too frustrated with little failures, you will fall off altogether. Instead, pick yourself up, and try again. Just because you had one bad day of your diet does not mean that you gained all the weight back and reversed all the progress from the gym.

Keep your eyes on the prize.

Though you shouldn't keep an unrealistic goal, keeping your eyes on the prize is one of the most beneficial methods to improve self-discipline.

Being able to remind yourself why you're putting all of this work into your goal is a great way to recent your focus. Self-discipline is all about reminding yourself why you're doing what you're doing. The only reason why you're doing this in the first place, keep your eyes on that prize, no matter what it might be.

Don't push yourself too far.

Much like setting goals that are too high, just simply pushing yourself, your body, and your mindset too far will cause you to give up and fail. Pushing your boundaries will only help you succeed in the moment, but after so much time, there is a point in which you cannot go any further.

This is why setting goals that you are not capable of is a terrible decision to make when you are attempting to self-discipline yourself. Instead, you should discover the goals that will turn into habits on their own, and eliminate motivation altogether.

Take advantage of your resources.

Last, but not least, on our list of the best methods to improve self-discipline, is to always take advantage of your resources. Whether this is technology, support systems, therapy, you name it, it will benefit your process.

Self-discipline is all about what is best for you, and if this means reaching out to the resources available to you, we encourage you to do so. Asking for help is never something to be ashamed of, and there are plenty reasons to, to achieve your goals, and to self-discipline yourself.

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About the Creator

Kelsey Lange

Passionate about writing, animals, makeup, movies, friends, family, learning, exercising, and laughing!

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